Medicament inhaler



March 31, 1953 w, GROSVENORVJR 2,633,131

MEDICAMENT INHALER Filed March 5, 1949" vform of the invention.

ysealing member.

. Patented Mar. 31,1953

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEDICAMEN'Iy AINHALER.

William M. Grosvenor, Jr., New York, N. Y., as-

signor to John H. White, Old Greenwich, Conn., and Mary White Rose, San Francisco, Calif.

Application March 3, 1949, Serial No. 79,480

3 claims." (ol. 12s-200) 7.This invention relates to containers having a fibrous means for closing access thereto in the presence of water and is particularly adapted for use in conjunction with a medicament inhaler wherein'it may be desirable to prevent removal of the medicament from the inhaler for .use

' vother than that intended, such removal being accomplishable previously by placing the inhaler in water or other similar liquid.

In one aspect of the invention, a container is provided for holding a supply of the particular medicament to be used, the container having a passage `for emission of the vapor of the medica? which is operative upon wetting of the fibrous body to seal said portion of the passageway so that liquid 'cannot flow therethrough and thus reach the medicament.

' It is of course quite evident that the invention 'can be employed for purposes other than inhalers or vaporizers, such purposes including those wherein it is desirable to prevent vwater or liquid from reaching the contents, yet where air or vapors are free to pass. These and other objects, advantages, and features of the inven-l tion will become apparent from the following description'and drawings. i Figure 1 is an enlarged sectional View of one Figure 2 is an end viewof the form shown in Figurel.

Figure 3 is an end view of the outer'apertured `disc usedinth'e form of the invention shown' in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of one end of a modified arrangement of the fibrous member. 1

VFigure is a fragmentary enlarged view of one end of a modified arrangement of the fibrous Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of a still further form of the invention.

Figure 11 is a sectional view of another modification of the invention.

Tubular member 20 may be made of steel which can be hardened after it is` formed and before assembly of the medicament therein. Tube 29, of course, can be made of any suitable material such as plastic, hardened steel being used where non-destructive properties are necessary.

The medicament or other substance can be held in the tubular member in various manners. Asone example, pasageway 2| of the tubular member may have the medicament placed there,- in by means 0f apiece of impregnated absorbent paper 22, said paper being folded in an accordionlike arrangement so as to provide air passages along the length thereof. The passageway 2| has apertures 23 at each end of tubular member 20. Outer apertured discs 24 may be held in place on shoulders 25 at each end 23 of the tubular member 20 by crimping the ends of the walls of the tube at 26. Discs 24 Lhave slots 21 therein which provide apertures 28 in conjunction with crimped portions 26 (Figs; l, 23). Thefdiscs preferably are made of hardened steel so that they cannot be punched, drilled or otherwise deformed for the purpose of obtaining easy access to the interior of the inhaler or Ythe sealing elements. Inner discs 29 are held on shoulders `30 of tubular member 20 in any desired manner,

discs 29 having apertures 3| therethrough for the passage of air and/or vapors.

Water absorbent swellable fibrous bodies 32 are provided in the chambers or cavities 33 formed between the two" discs 24 and 29. In a preferred form, said water absorbent swellable discs 32 have a pluralityzof spaced projections 3,4 around one face so as to hold the fibrous bodies 32 in spaced relation relative to the inner Vrestraining discs 29. The projections can be formed, for example, by pressing inwardly on the or point where the medicament islocated.

In a further and preferred aspect, aber can be used suchV as one-of cellulose fiber normally employed in the manufacture of paper or paper board. Preferably, the fibers should not be subsequently treated so as to reduce the swelling characteristics by processes such as vulcanizing or impregnation. It may be, however, possible to select a fiber with the desired characteristics which may have had some subsequent treatment after it Ihas beenmade'into paper or paper board, as long -as 'the-swell rate is notseriouslyaifected thereby.

As one example, the fibrous body or elements 32 preferably are made of a kraft process fiber although it is to be understood that other similar fibers can be used. kAs an example of one I type of suitable brous body, the 'fiber thereof in its manufacture can be medium well cooked and beaten, and the fiber boardmadetherefrom in a conventional wet paper machine. y

The body and fibers preferably can "beichosen to have at least a predetermined real volume in 'relation ISto the active 'or actual space occupied by the fibroushodyandtc :have -a predetermined swell irate. :when uncon'fined. yThe Yterm active space can be defined as `the 4actual spaceoc'cup iedbyvthe fibrous body or'plurality ofmembers :aftertheytlhavefoncezbeenwet. vSwell rate can .be definedas a percentageincrease in thickness :cf ythe :normally dry fibrous body per speciiied iunitfoftime. .The-.choice of'brous body preferably should .be made so that when swelling of the tbers composing the brous body occurs .underiunrestrained conditions,the swelling will `xnorethanJcause thebody to fill the activespace 'occupied thereby;

In one aspect, the fibrousbody when relatively Adry can have Jintercommunicating pores therethrough which will be subsequently shut Ywhen lthe yfibrous body becomes lexposed Vto water and `the body vis confinedby 'the walls of va cavity :restrainingstructureior' arrangement. When' the 'fibrous body -is 1in :its chamber and .is normally .dry, it is idirnension'edirelative to 'the chamber for 'restraining :cavity lin :such a ymanner `that air rand vapors .can pass'therethrough 'or 'so that it islperyicus tothe vapor. Upon being Vcontacted with iwater, 'the fibrous body swells suiciently and is restrained in such a manner vthatit will cutoff or'seal'the 'passageway to water or liquid .and thus prevent'waterfrom reaching the* mediclament.

vIn "a preferred form, ibut not necessarily, the fibers .of the :fibrous body 'are substantially Vrandomly orientede'in substantially parallel layers. The bers in sucha case should'be so arranged iin the .device so @that :the Vmain swelling occurs isubstantially perpendicular to the parallel layers. -fAlso 4in one "form, :the edges vof the .il-ibrous body A'mayliave vportions pressed inwardly `so as to prbvi'de projections von the end ,faces of the fibrous rbody "for the purpose 'of providing a pasfsageway betweenthe face of the body and Ia restrained disc ofthe inhaler, whenrthe fibrous body fis :in normally dry condition.

As one example of the characteristics of -axsuitiable `wet fibrous body, vone canbe usedwhich has afdensity o'f 50.180 to1z40 withian'initial swell rate forthefirstiminute of more'thanabout 5% when exposedfto water with the `body unrestrained. In one suitable fiber, 'the initial 'swell Yrate vis 20% for the first minute .and it will swell in 5 minutes. 'The swell irate :is :not 'necessarily a straight line `relationship 'ibut `'must be rapidor quick during 'the rst .'minute.

f The particular swell frate ofthe fbrous body kused valso -is :related to the :real lvolume Avof the fibers. If the real volume of the fibers is at least 50% of the active space thereof, the fibrous bodies or elements will function properly, even under fluid pressure, to close off the passageway from the exterior of the inhaler to the interior thereof.

In normal use of the inhaler, one end A of the ltubular member 2u can 'be `held adjacent the nostril and air drawn through the inhaler. The air drawn through the inhaler will pick up volatilizable ingredients from the folded impregnated paper 22. An example of one medicant for the shrinking of the nasal mucasa is racemic amphetamine or .1-phenyl-2-aminopropane, and for which this invention is adapted to be used.

vIt 'is't-beunderstood that the invention is :applicable to .inhalers or other devices having other medicaments or substances therein. If tubularmember 20 is placed in water in an attempt to remove the medicament from the interior thereof, .the'swellablebrous .body'members `Sil will immediately ,swell and eiectively seal the passageway'against'liquid inflow or outflow rela- Ytive to the interiorof the tubular member 20.

As another example of .an arrangement for closing oif access to the interior of the tubular container, a water absorbent swellable brous body ('Fig. 4) `can be ,located in an annular restrainingv member ,36 held in tubular member 31. Steeldisc 38 maybe crimped in the end of tubular member 31 in a manner similar to that described for Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, discs 38 having slots 39 similar to slots .21 of Figures 1 to 3, inclusive. Uponwater contacting rthe swellable fibrous body 35, said body will seal olf access to passageway 40 of the tubular member 31. A similar arrangement can be located at the other end Aof tube 31.

A still further modification is Vshown in Figure 5 wherein a tubular member il has a passageway 42 and Van taperturerli'3 in the rounded end 44 thereof. Cavity or restraining chamber 45 .is `arranged to hold water absorbent brous body 4,6, said tbrous body being held in place therein Vby disc '41. vSaid dischas apertures '48 vtherein for'the passage of air'and vapor.

Another form is seen in Figure 6 wherein tube 49 has a passageway 50 leading toY apertures 5|. Passageway50 can connect with the medicament cavity or holding chamber of this arrangement. Restraining cavity or chamber 52 can have one or a plurality of fibrous bodies 53 therein, said bodies being held in said restraining cavity by means ,of a 'capmember54, saidfcap member 54 being welded, brazed, or otherwise fastened to the .tubular body: 49.

11n another form ofthe invention, the 4fibrous body can be located in the passageway so as to close off the 'same by va'radial swelling of the fibrous body. Tube 55 (Fig. '1) can 'have-a disc 56 with apertures 51 therein, said disc 56 being 'held by crimping of tube A55 at 58 'into the end .of the tube 55 Vand across the aperture 59 leading to passageway 60 of said tubular-member 55. Fibrous body (il is held in place longitudinally in passageway 60 by meansof :restraining members G2, E52. When the fibrous body comes into contact with-a liquid or water, said brous body 5| will swell radially so as to completely fill the passageway 60 and thus seal olf access to the interior of the tube.

A modiiication of Athe :form seen in Figure '1 is found in Figures 8 vand .9 wherein the fibrous elements V63, B4 .are ylocated in passageway 65 of tube 66. An aperture or passage -6'1iis formed :sageway 1 I.

between fibrous elements 83, 64. Upon contact with water, fibrous elements 63, 64 will swell inwardly in such a manner so as to close off passage 61 and thus seal the passage.

In still a further form of the invention, body 68 (Fig. 10) of the inhaler may have an aperture `69 in the end thereof connected through port 18 with passageway 1 I. The longitudinally expandable Water absorbent fibrous element 12 is held atone end by bracket 13. Upon contact with Water, fibrous element 12 will swell longitudinally so as to cause .the end or valve seat 14 to contact opening and close off access to pas- It is evident that various valve seats and arrangements can be used employing the principle indicated in Figure l0.

As a further example of an arrangement of the invention, exterior tube or casing 15 (Fig. 11) can be made of metal, although a plastic may be used if desired or permissible. Outer casing 15 can have a shoulder 16 for limiting inward movement of the tube 11. Tube 11 may have projections 18 spaced around the periphery providing passages 19 between the main part of tube 11 and the inner wall of casing 15. The tube 11 may have impregnated folded paper 80 therein carrying the medicament. In this form of the invention, tube 11 preferably should be joined to casing 15 in some manner so that they cannot be taken apart after assembly. Apertures 8l in the end of tube 11 connect with passage 82 containing the medicament through a chamber or cavity 83, said cavity or chamber being formed by a ring or retaining member 84 fastened in tube 11 in such a manner that the ring cannot be moved inwardly.

Water absorbent fibrous body 85 is placed in cavity 83 so that upon becoming wet, the body will seal off aperture 8| and thus access to the medicament in passage 82` Y At the interior portion of the inner and outer tube, a second water absorbent iibrous body 86 is located so as to cooperate with the inner end 81 of tube '11.

Air drawn through aperture 8| normally will pass into the inhaler through annular passageway 88, around the inner end of tube 11 and through the medicament containing paper 80.

If desired, the tubular body of the inhaler can be made of a metal such as steel, which can be hardened so as to make it quite difficult to gain access to the contents by destruction of the container? The end closures preferably are arranged so that it will not be possible to force holes through the brous body and thereby permit water to pass into the interior of the inhaler.

In'the forms shown in Figures 1-6, inclusive, the fibrous body is of smaller diameter than the cavity in which it resides but the fibrous body may take various shapes and sizes. Also the ends and exterior of the tubular members may take any desired shape as needed for their intended purpose. It is to be understood that various modifications can be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention except as dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A medicament inhaler comprising a container having a passageway for emission of the v-apor of said medicament, said passageway incluclingr an aperture in a Wall of said container, a chamber connected to said passageway, a water absorbent fibrous body in said chamber, said chamber being normally pervious to the vapor, and a cover member for said chamber having a plurality of peripheral slots, said iibrous body in said chamber being operative when wet by water to seal the passageway against liquid flow, said slots being constructed and arranged in said cover relative to said brous body herein and said passageway so` that the body cannot be mechanically rendered pervious from the exterior to water when lthe body is wet.

2. A medicament inhaler comprising a tubular body having a medicament holding cavity therein with a chamber at each end of said cavity communicating with the exterior of the tubular body, water absorbent fibrous bodies in each of said chambers, said chambers normally passing vapor and air and said fibrous bodies being swellable when wet to seal said chambers against liquid flow, a slotted periphery disc at the exterior of each chamber, and inner discs having a central aperture at the interior side of each of said chambers, said fibrous body being between said discs.

3. A medicament inhaler ycomprising a tubular body having a medicament holding cavity therein with a chamber at each end of said cavity communicating with the exterior of the tubular body, water absorbent ibrous bodies in each of said chambers, said chambers normally passing vapor and air and said librous bodies being swellable when wet to seal said chambers against liquid flow, a slotted periphery disc at the exterior of each chamber, inner discs having a central aperture at the interior side of each of said chambers, said brous body being between said discs, and said discs being held in place by a crimped end of said tube.

WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 567,558 Wiseman Sept. 8, 1896 957,548 Doane May 10,1910 1,091,362 Levalley Mar. 24, 1914 1,398,764 Blum Nov. 29, 1921 2,331,431 Simoneau Oct. `12, 1943 

